JCH13 - Turbo Miata Rehab Thread

[JCH13]

I dunno man, I see a lot of empty room there for bigger! :awe:

http://www.motoiq.com/magazine_articles/id/1354/frankenmiata--turbocharging.aspx

I see your Franken Miata and raise you one drag miata.

http://www.globalnetspace.com/miata/

 

[exdeath]

I see your Franken Miata and raise you one drag miata.

http://www.globalnetspace.com/miata/

Beautiful engine bay.

 

[AustinInDallas]

this makes me miss my miata so much!

 

[jlee]

Beautiful engine bay.

Heheh. Because.

 

[manimal]

that bay is sex!

 

[JCH13]

So easy to make it look nice when it only has to do one thing...

I am jelly too.

 

[JCH13]

Flyin' Miata Stage 2 suspension kit and salvaged differential retainers ordered.

Going to assess the brake line situation tonight, I found part of a stainless line kit in my garage... might only need to order a few.

 

[JCH13]

I already have two stainless front brake lines so I ordered two rear brake lines and some extra line-locks for the e-brake cables I have to install.

Still need a manual window regulator, but it seems insane to spend $95 on that and there are virtually none available used.

 

[JCH13]

Installed all new ebrake cables last night, mostly. Painted re-man rear brake calipers black too. Called it a night early as I was exhausted.

 

[jlee]

I already have two stainless front brake lines so I ordered two rear brake lines and some extra line-locks for the e-brake cables I have to install.

Still need a manual window regulator, but it seems insane to spend $95 on that and there are virtually none available used.

$95!? Holy crap.

 

[JCH13]

$95!? Holy crap.

iknorite? Passenger side is $60... I can tell which one is in higher demand.

 

[JCH13]

Finally bit the bullet and got the window regulator.

I REALLY hope that's the last part for this year.

 

[deadken]

I was visiting my buddy over at Albany Ave Auto Salvage and he just got a 1991 Miata in. It was hit hard on the right side and it wasn't really to pretty to begin with. I do know that it runs well, had a recent clutch done, and new rear end / axles. I figured I would pass this information on here since a bunch of guys are always asking about used Miata parts. Here is the info:
https://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF...lbany+Avenue+Auto+Salvage&iwloc=A&gl=US&hl=en
Just tell him that Ken (the guy with the Volvo(s) and VW(s)) sent you.
Ohh yeah, that is Long Island, NY if anyone cares.

BTW: I think I'm grabbing the 15" rims for my VW Jetta. IIRC, both cars are 4x100 bolt patterns.

 

[JCH13]

Got the front driver's suspension links all bolted in, except for the top long-bolt. Waiting on that until my new shocks arrive. :biggrin:

Rear brake calipers got a second coat of paint too. Waiting on new/used diff retainers to arrive before I put the rear subframe/diff/ppf back together.

I think I'm going to re-install the transmission tonight and maybe the front brake calipers and lines.

 

[JCH13]

Also just ordered a Nitrocat 1200k impact gun, seems like a good mix of price, performance, and durability for the home mechanic like myself. Amazon prime FTW.

Edit: big plus is the 86db sound level.

 

[ballmode]

bcuz raze car

 

[thedarkwolf]

Also just ordered a Nitrocat 1200k impact gun, seems like a good mix of price, performance, and durability for the home mechanic like myself. Amazon prime FTW.

Edit: big plus is the 86db sound level.

I bought one of those a year and a half ago. It is freaking awesome.

 

[JCH13]

I bought one of those a year and a half ago. It is freaking awesome.

Glad to know I didn't totally screw up :awe:

 

[JCH13]

Figured out that the e-brake cable junction block was assembled backwards and the threaded flange used to tension it was also too big. Thank you Autozone.

Took a dremel too the flange to make it fit. Simple.

The slots in this block are supposed to be on the other side of the cable so that the tensioning spring can slip through.

I drilled down the head of the rivets holding the two halves together and knocked them out with a punch. I didn't have any bolts/nuts or rivets that I could easily replace them with. More annoyingly I was missing the only appropriately sized tap to put threads in one of the brackets.

So I cut a channel into a bolt and made my own tap. Drove it in with a cordless impact gun with a little motor oil for lube.

Drilled clearance holes in the other half of the block and bolted it back together, good to go.

Also started to realign the transmission, got three bolts in loosely and called it night.

 

[JCH13]

Transmission is installed. Clutch slave is bolted up again. Speedo cable, reverse switch, and starter are on too. Busy night. Packed the shifter turret full of grease instead of oil. I think that's where a very slow oil leak was coming from, but grease won't leak (I hope). Supposed to be pretty common and not really affect shifting.

Tried out my Aircat 1200k just screwing around. When I first ran it I was all... why is this thing broken? Is my air turned all the way down? Nope, just SUPER quiet for an impact gun. 86dB in fact. Seems to work very well, but I haven't tackled a seriously stuck bolt with it yet.

My order from Flyin' Miata just shipped too.. very excited.

 

[2timer]

Nice job OP.

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

how much for that impact gun on Amo-prime?

 

[JCH13]

Got a major garage upgrade on Sunday. My roommate and I picked up my Dad's no-longer-being-used compressor. It's a Quincy compressor, made in USA, quite heavy-duty, and only saw occasional use. We took it apart, carried all the pieces out of the basement where it was and loaded it into his truck.

Unloaded everything in my paint booth bay now that it's open, it stored two MR2s and a CBR600 over the winter. Wired in a new 50A 240V outlet to plug the compressor into and also wired a power cord to the compressor. I did this instead of hard-wiring it in so that I could use my welder/plasma cutter in the paint booth if the need ever arose. Also I had a 50A plug and receptacle but no junction box :awe:

Baseboard heaters have... seen better days, to say the least. Not sure what, if anything, I'm going to do about heating in there.

It has a 22A, 240V drive motor (5HP by my calcs) powering a 2-stage compressor filling a 60-80 gallon (est) tank to 185PSI. I also picked up a line dryer, regulator, and outlet manifold. My Aircat 1200K impact gun is now much happier.

 

[JCH13]

NB Tociko Illumina shocks, NB Flyin' Miata springs, and Flyin' Miata sway bars/bushings/brackets arrived today... they're sitting here in my cubicle taunting me...

Edit: Also got the differential retainers... basically everything can go back together now...

 

[JCH13]

Replaced a flare nut on the rear subframe's brake hardline. Somehow an english fitting made it onto the car and the threads were very unhappy. Luckily there was enough extra hardline to just cut a little off and re-flare the end. I finally got to use my hard-line cutter and double-flare tool, hoooray! FWIW a carbide knife/deburring knife is great for deburring brake lines, some how-to videos said 'just use a screwdriver' x.x not okay.

With that sorted out I put together the rear brake calipers/caliper brackets/e-brake brackets now that they're all happy and painted.

I also got most of the rear subframe assembled. I just need to put the brake rotors, calipers, and shocks on it and it can get slapped into the car!